I saw this baby over at Shanty 2 Chic and was really in love with it. I enlisted my husband's help because I am a little freaked about when using giant saws. It was so easy!

As you know large wall out is super pricey and I never actually found anything I love enough to be worth forking over the dough. This cost me about $50 to make and it is one of my favorite craft projects ever.

Here are a few lessons learned with my version:

1. Buy the cheap wood. It actually ended up looking better than the expensive stuff. The more crappy marks, the more weathered and vintage it ends up looking.

2. This baby is HEAVY! Use the hardware made for hanging huge mirrors. It still makes me a little nervous. Please don't rip my wall out :-(

3. I added some holiday bunting. I plan on switching this out for each holiday. It can look a little plain without it.

If you are a regular reader you know I've been skimping on the real content lately. I've actually been doing tons of stuff. I've just been very bad about taking photos. Finally I created a Christmas project worthy of going up on the blog. Sadly, I didn't take step by step photos, but I feel confident you don't need them. Also, this is proof I am no longer afraid of my cricut. Thank you all for your tips and encouragement!

Sorry for the poor photo quality, but I am rarely home during the light of day anymore thanks to daylight savings.

Let me give you a rundown of what it took to make this baby.

1. I painted it with some satin Martha Stewart Craft Paint. It was pretty sheer so it literally took about three coats to get it where I wanted it.

2. Next I cut the "Be Merry" vinyl lettering with my cricut. I used the outline to make a stencil. I wanted to paint it rather than just use red vinyl so it would be more shimmery.

3. Next I made some more stencils to create the snow flakes. I also used Martha Stewart Satin paint for this in Mother of Pearl.

4. Finally I cut some tress from holiday paper with my cricut and mod modged them onto the board.

It was kind of tedious, but I love it! I am really into blue and red for Christmas this year. What do you think!

If you are a regular blog reader of mine you know I love animals. Check out this story from the Today Show!

"Computer sales manager Michael Hingson was at his desk on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower on the morning of 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the other side of the building, 18 floors above. And he lived to tell the tale because of his guide dog, Roselle.
The yellow lab calmly guided her blind charge 1,463 steps out of the building and, as debris fell and dust billowed, found a subway station and led them both underground to safety.
Roselle died in June at the age 13, but her heroism lives on. At a star-studded red carpet event in L.A. Saturday night the yellow lab was was honored as the American Hero Dog of the Year.
"She saved my life," Hingson wrote on the American Humane Association's site. More than 400,000 people cast votes for Roselle and 7 other finalists. But it was Hingson's moving description of her actions on 9/11 that helped her take the top dog honor.
More from TODAY.com Chimp attack victim reveals new face Six months after a face transplant gave her another chance at life, chimp attack victim Charla Nash grants an exclusive in...

Wood’s sister: Like having to ‘relive her death’ NYC terror suspect was building test bomb Police hunt for mom from ‘People’s Court’ case Who made Consumer Reports’ naughty, nice list? Just as they got out of the building on 9/11, the south tower collapsed. "While everyone ran in panic, Roselle remained totally focused on her job," Hingson wrote. "While debris fell around us, and even hit us, Roselle stayed calm."
Hingson, the seven other finalists and their handlers were flown to Los Angeles to attend the ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hilton where they were joined by another four-legged celebrity, RIN TIN TIN Smith, a twelfth-in-line descendant of the original RIN TIN TIN. These four-legged celebrities were joined by a raft of two-legged ones including celebrity judges Betty White, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristin Chenoweth, Mark Hamill, Jillian Michaels, Susan Orlean (author of the new book, “RIN TIN TIN: The Life and the Legend”), TODAY's Jill Rappaport and Top Chef Fabio Viviani.
“Every day, across America, dogs protect, comfort, and give their unconditional friendship and affection to the ill, the infirm, the wounded veteran, and the frightened child,” Robin Ganzert, President and CEO of the American Humane Association, said of the awards. “It was time to recognize the contributions of man’s best friends and celebrate the heroic feats they have performed for us every day."

So I go to therapy and I'm proud of it. I mean how else can I get someone to listen to me talk for an hour straight and be really engaged? So few people in the world actually listen anymore. This is my big chance to get everything off my chest and get some legit and awesome advance from an impartial third party. Totally a golden opportunity.

In addition, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I didn't end up catatonic or an adult film star due to my family's utter dysfunctionality. I see a lot of weird things in the therapist office and not in an unfortunate mental health type of way. For example today the man sitting next to me in the waiting room kept playing the Scooby-Doo theme song over and over on his phone. Out loud. Loudly. I mean really? While waiting I developed a few theories on why this guy would do such a thing:

1. He was craving scooby snacks
2. Maybe he was concerned I was a ghost
3. He is seeing a therapist for his obsession for 90's cartoons
4. He was unable to find the theme song to Magilla Gorilla

You know that you are living in the year 2011 when at least half of your current friends have been met online. And not in a creepy, "hey baby" private message on MySpace kind of way.

I've been a follower of Amie over at Kitty Cats and Airplanes for a while. I won a giveaway she had and then we realized we lived super close to each other. Since I don't live in Utah this doesn't happen to me very often. Then a few months later we realized we went to the same church. Weird!

Finally, Amie and I took the big step of meeting face-to-face. In the past this is something that has not gone great for me. For whatever reason a lot of people find me online through the dog forum I participate in or some other webby thing I do and think we should meet. The majority of the time I come home and thank my lucky stars I made it back without my bones being made into wind chimes. There are a lot of weirdos out there people! (If you are one please don't ask me to hang some time.)

Anywho Amie is AWESOME! It was totally not awkward and Amie has taught me some mad sewing skills. I don't think her hilarity and sweetness are totally communicated through her blog because sarcasm doesn't always write well. I should know. I often wonder if people think I am totally bonkers on here or really mean. Amy seems fun on her blog, but she is seriously the illest.

Besides Amie's serious talent as a sewing teacher, she also makes jewelry. Here are some of her sweet little trinkets from her Etsy Shop.

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a while. Jirka Väätäinen, a student in the UK, created a collection of drawings to illustrate what the Disney Princesses would look like if they were real people.

What do you think of the images below? I'm going to try to put together some images of real people I think look lke these princesses. Any suggestions?

About Me

I love crafting, writing, and creating of any kind. I work full time for a university and my blog is my escape. My husband and I have been married for over 5 years and we have two furry kids. We are originally from Ohio and are huge Buckeye fans. Thanks for visiting!